>> al: fabulous way to end the season and comes down to that. "sunday night football," dallas/washington. the winner going to the playoffs as the nfc east champion and hosting the game. and if dallas loses, they are out. if washington loses, they still have a shot. some other things would have to happen earlier in the day. but it's dallas and washington with the nfc east title at stake on "sunday night football" next week. seahawks expecting an onside kick. leon washington down to the end zone. after the game, the wendy's postgame report on the field with michele and bob and tony break down the game and cris and

i take a look at a butte next week, cowboys and redskins. >> cris: >> referee: no penalty on the play. first down. >> al: thank god! >> cris: and all he has done. washington, alfred morris is one of the top running teams in the nfl behind him. jim haslett after losing so many star defensive players early in the year, seemed to piece it all back together and a change for the seahawks now. >> al: wilson is done for the night and matt flynn will finish it up here. he will take us to the finish line. flynn who was signed to that big contract and looked to the world that he would be the man. russell wilson just simply flat out won the job and has been the starter since the opener. >> cris: yeah, and he won it because of game altering plays. his gap plays, as russell wilson likes to call these things, and he has been sensational with them tonight. he had one turnover on a big

play, but third down conversions, 11 of 12. red zone, 4 for 4. and that's a rookie. >> al: turnover on a tipped pass. in seven games in this stadium this season, he has thrown two interceptions. >> cris: he's something now. >> al: oh, yeah. >> cris: it was funny talking to pete about him. he said people warned me when i met him at the senior bowl, he goes, now, you know, be careful because you'll think he is one of those artists, you know, that can kind of trick you and fool y you, but he has lived up to it on an everyday basis and nobody works harder in the building and pete carroll is his biggest fan, no question. >> al: this team has drafted extremely well and made a lot of great choices. thorough a major big-time role right now. and everything is lining up perfectly for the seattle seahawks. as we said at the very beginning, you might hear a lot

from either of these teams, despite what happened to san francisco tonight over the next few weeks. seahawks win it by a score of 42-13 and seattle is in the playoffs. wendy's postgame report will be coming right up after these messages from your local nbc station. .

seahawks 10-56 and won their last three games by an average of 40 points. russell wilson threw only 21 times tonight, completed 13, but four of those were for touchdowns so he is one of the players infant game. richard sherman, an interception, five tackles and a 90-yard return of a blocked field goal for a touchdown. nice night for him. marshawn lynch, 26 carries, 111 yards. he is kind of the j.d. sallinger of the national football league and doesn't do interviews we have to guess as to his thoughts. michele will speak with wilson and sherman and here she is. >> michele: russell, you clenched a playoff berth and still alive in the division hunt. what did it mean for this team to get back to the playoffs? >> unbelievable. we have had a great year so far and one step. we have to keep moving forwards and a lot more to look forward to and big game next week against the rams and have to play a great game. >> michele: you guys have had 150 points in your last three games! four touchdowns for you tonight.

how sdo you explain this offensive explosion? >> it's coming together. i think my experience and just learning and offensive line doing a tremendous, tremendous job. receivers making great plays, tight ends and rbs and marshawn lynch and robert coming in to be a change-up. the coaching staff doing a great job of calling great plays when we need them. >> michele: this kroed is notorious for being the 12th man. what kind of impact to you think the fans and noise had on this gauge? >> the fans love us so much and bring so much energy to our football team and keep us in the game, obviously, and keep us alert. >> michele: congratulations on the win, russell. >> thank you. go hawks! richard sherman, what a night 37 blocked field goal attempt and ran it back for a touchdown and interception in the second half that was huge. how do you explain your big performance? >> i have great teammates and great coaches that kept us. they did a great job. game planning and i took advantage of my opportunities. >> michele: pete carroll is

known for the way he coaches defense backs and you guys were thin tonight in the secondary. how did he get so much out of you in spite of that? >> we have amazing depth. byron maxwell and jeremy lane, they are great players and they could be starters in this league. they stepped up to the task and up to the task and stepped newspaper a big way tonight and played big for us. >> michele: i know you can't get into details but on friday, you appealed your four-game suspension for violating the league policy on performance-enhancing drugs. but how optimistic are you that you're going to be with this team playing next week and beyond? >> i'm incredibly optimistic. they broke rules you can't break and unless they just say they can break rules and suspend me, then we should be fine. >> michele: congratulations on the playoff berth. >> thank you very much. >> michele: bob? >> we will have to wait and see on that. his explanation a little vague. in the meantime, the nfl has announced next week's schedule with the nfc east title game. the cowboys at the redskins on sunday night football here on

nbc. let's take a look at the afc games. the texans at the colts at 1:00 eastern on cbs, has major seeding implications. all of the nfc games will be on fox. highlighted by the packers at vikings at 4:25 eastern, a game with playoff implications for both teams. you are taking a look here at the afc playoff picture. we got ourselves a little bit out of sync here but tony dungy will set us straight. the afc circumstances now, how do you see it? >> well, really some big, big games in the afc and it really starts at the top. houston, number one seed, but they have got to go to indianapolis, bob, a place where they have never won. if they don't win, you've got the opportunity for denver and also for new england to pass them. so huge, huge games at the top of the afc race and, you know,

it's really makes for a big week 17. >> packers/vikings is a game in the nfc has playoff implications. what are your thoughts on that? >> yes. that becomes a huge game also with the win tonight by seattle, that has vaulted the packers over the top of -- over top of san francisco and they have got to win this game against minnesota to keep that position. and minnesota had a chance in that first game. we saw an interception by christian ponder. that really turned the game around. minnesota is in a win or in situation. so it becomes a huge, huge game for them also. and minnesota playing in front of that home crowd. we saw what the home crowd in seattle did tonight. >> tony, thanks a lot. apologize for the confusion there at the top. i trust you have access either through your newspapers or various other outlets all you folks out there to sort out what all the possible playoff implications are. one thing we want to reiterate the game next sunday night here

on nbc will be dallas at washington for the nfc east championship. we turn now to mike florio of pro football talk. mike, take us through some of the day's most important injuries, please. >> bob, texans running back arian foster left today what was called an illness at the time. after the game coach kubiak said foster had irregular heartbeat and second time it's happened but they say the foster will be fine. anquan bolder injured his shoulder over the new york giants for the chicago bears running back matt forte injured an ankle he injured earlier this year and in a walking boot after the win over the cardinals. right ankle injury. randall cobb jushed his ankle and i'm told x-rays taken after the game were negative and he'll have mri on monday and could be available for week 17 against the vikings and should be available for the postseason. >> okay, mike, thanks. tune into "pro football talk"

every weekend at 5:00 p.m. on the nbc sports network. the seahawks 42 and the 49ers 13. al and cris back to wrap things up from seattle after this. . no. wendy's mozzarella chicken supreme. crisp chicken, lots of mozzarella, and a rich parmesan sauce. making tastes that make the season. that's wendy's way. now that's better. get a $10 toys-r-us gift card offer when you purchase a kid's meal. see offer for details. my son loves the apps and movies. but my daughter? vampire books. sharing... whooh forget it! with our walmart credit card -- special financing, we can get two. the kids are happy. my shopping's done. our budget -- under control. now, let's go. i knew that. right. umph, i love that woman.

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[ coach ] caleb, i've got someone i want you to meet. hello. [ male announcer ] at&t. the nation's largest 4g network. covering 3,000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. rethink possible. >> al: one final game afc playoff picture. the six teams are in, period. nobody is left in the hunt. the question becomes who gets the two byes. right now houston and denver, 1-2. obviously, if they both win next week, they stay 1-2. new england, though, has a chance if houston loses to vault past them because they won the head-to-head game. baltimore clenched the afc north. indianapolis and cincinnati are the wild cards. that's pretty simple. now in the nfc, it's a little different here. atlanta has clenched home field throughout. green bay moves into the second

seat at the moment. if they win at minnesota next week, they remain second and get a bye. san francisco needs a win to clench the division and a green bay loss to get back to the second spot. washington/dallas winner next week wins the nfc east. dallas, if they lose, cannot get to the playoffs. washington still has a chance. seattle is already in. and minnesota can clench it with a win next week against green bay. there you have it are the teams minutalimally in the hunt. >> cris: wow. that was good. i'm impressed! >> al: whatever. i took fourth grade math. we do washington and dallas next week. last year we were able to end the season with dallas and a win and lose/out scenario. not quite that but still a huge game next week. the redskins, as hot as you can get, six wins in a row. dallas losing a heartbreaker today after coming from behind to send the game into overtime and it's going to be crazy next week in d.c. >> cris: can you imagine the dallas cowboys, the emotions of

this day going from losing that game you thought you had to win and now, all of a sudden, you're back in, a winner take all next week? the question is, you know, can they keep it going on the offensive side? dez bryant and tony romo, those guys have been red hot. defensively a lot of injuries on that side of the ball so a great matchup next week. >> al: rg3 next week and wrap it up at the end of the season with "sunday night football" with dallas at washington. all starts with "football night in america" beginning at 7:00 eastern and 4:00 pacific here on nbc. until then, al michaels, cris collinsworth, michele tafoya our whole gang led by fred gand goo night from seattle. .

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> good evening, everyone. thanks for staying up with us. what an incredible game. >> for weeks, just waiting to have them. dominating fashion, and joe flacco to torrey smith.

look at that catch. 43 yards. joe flacco would score later in the keeper. the first receiving touchdown of the season. he threw for her 429 yards. and the backup running back. in the end zone. the ravens more than 500 yards of offense with the giants less than two hundred. the ravens will likely face the colts in the playoffs. we will talk about that coming up later. >> and now to our other big story. a police-involved shooting in baltimore county. gregory stiegel was shot and

killed after a confrontation with an officer. the suspect's mother spoke with us exclusively. nadia has more on this. >> cathy says her son may have been troubled, but posed no threat to anyone, especially police officer. >> it has been a tough day because today was -- birthday. but she says she is having a tough time understanding why anyone would kill her son who was a paranoid schizophrenic. >> he has been a non-violent person. i have never seen him be violent ever. >> an officer on patrol spotted gregory still behind a shell service station at emerson avenue early sunday morning. authorities say the officer asked him to step from behind the building. but he refused and displayed a

knack and pointed it at the officer. according to investigators, the officer attempted to use his taser, but it was ineffective. >> he continued to walk toward the officer with the knife out curb he refused to drop the knife. >> spiegel was taken to an area hospital with a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead. she missed believes that he was shamus believeshameles that he was in the area visiting friends. >> he most likely had a penknife, like a $5.90 from 711. he was not wielding a big knife. -- like a $5 per penknife from 7-11. he was wheeled -- he was not

wielding a big knife. >> he refused to follow the officer's orders and the officer had to use deadly force. the officer tried to use his taser, but nothing stop the threats and the officer was forced to use lethal force. in >> the search is on for the suspect after a shooting in southeast baltimore. officers arrived and found the victim in his 20's in the 6200 block of teams treat this afternoon. he was taken to the hospital and is expected to recover. police have not released and motive. police are working to identify the body of a person was found in the inner harbor. a passerby discover the body floating in the harbor around

9:30 a.m. this morning. it is not clear how the body ended up in the waters. the nra is fighting the push for new gun laws that followed the shooting in connecticut. the head of the powerful group is promoting the proposal to have more security in schools. >> this time, school safety is a big part of the argument. in his first interview after the connecticut shooting tragedy, nra chief wayne lapierre. >> the gun is the tool. the person is the criminal. >> they want more guns in the hands of good guys. >> is it crazy to put guns with police in schools to protect our

children? then call me crazy. >> i oversaw the air federal marshals. it is a deterrent. >> legislation will have to wait for the newcomers to get settled in. but the new debate is under way. >> trying to prevent shootings in schools without talking about guns is like trying to prevent lung cancer without talking about cigarettes. we are miles away from figuring this out. >> many are buying up weapons while they still can. >> i don't think it is ever a wrong time to protect yourself and exercise your second amendment rights. >> but 30 miles away from the connecticut shooting scene, gun owners were surrendering their arms for cash. it is one of a number of gun buybacks around the country. this one -64 firearms.

-- this one netted 64 firearms. in washington, wbal. >> after weighing in on gun control, democrat doug shulman also discussed the fiscal cliff and what happens next. >> our republican colleagues, by refusing to go along with revenues are risking the fiscal cliff. the big chance for a big deal is at the debt ceiling. that is when we will have leverage to turn the country around, prevent it from becoming greece and save social security and medicare. >> before leaving for hawaii for the holidays, obama urged congress to come up with a deal before the christmas break. many spent today navigating the

parking lots of packed stores and shopping malls for final gifts. some had a really good reason for hitting the stores in these final hours before christmas. >> i have a baby that is due christmas morning. so i came out here to do some last-minute shopping. it is tough to shop during the holidays, especially right before christmas because, again, you miss out on deals. >> a recent poll found 132 million people had not finished their holiday shopping and 26 million had not even began. many retailers will be open christmas eve late to accommodate them. the pope spoke in a number of languages today in vatican city. he encouraged people to look beyond the materialistic side of

christmas and wish people unhappy and gracious christmas. after a rough start, smooth sailing for several holiday travelers. but could that change? >> we have a little bit of rain and snow in the seven-day forecast. 28 degrees at the airport, but still near 40 degrees in the city.

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